Responsibility

At first glance this image evokes thoughts about hormonious co-existence. But then, is there anything natural about it?

The elephant lives in a herd and generally exhibits a highly social behaviour. The one in the pic definitely doesn't look like one in captivity. Then what makes it to haunt the national highways and demand food from speeding trucks, putting its life at such a huge risk ?

Typically the ones that get separated from their herds behave like this. Yesterday's newspapers reported that in a small town in Orissa’s Keonjhar district, such an elephant had attacked some villagers while on a rampaging search for its food. Obviously it had got used to threatening people to get its mouthful and so it was another attempt on another empty stomach day.

The inaction of forest officials and all those who had the power to do something about it had angered the villagers. It seems the tusker had killed eight people in the last two years. In spite of the track record, no efforts were taken to retrieve and confine the wild streaked animal. The common villagers could only see the threat from the big animal. From their simple existence, things like conservation and protection of endangered animals do not matter as they are constantly pitted against such life threatening situations and for them its a matter of their survival.

Fed up of the animal's antics and fed up of inaction from concerned officials, the mob took things in their hands and turned their fury on the elephant. Someone poured petrol on it and then lit it on fire.

After the incidence, the officials blame the public, the public blame the officials but the half burnt elephant had run away into the jungle.

Who knows when it will return?

Who knows what will be burnt next?

How many such half burnt issues are running amok just waiting for a solution from the empowered ones?